Reading Comprehension (35 minutes) Directions:There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. Passage One Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage: When Kathie Gifford’s face was splashed across the newspapers in 1996 after her lucrative line of Wal mart clothing was exposed as the work of underpaid laborers in New York City’s Chinatown, the Department of Labor and the White House teamed up to condemn such practices. With much fanfare, President Clinton’s administration launched the “No Sweat” campaign, which pressured retailers and manufacturers to submit to periodic independent inspection of their workplace conditions.; This campaign urged manufacturers to sign the Workplace Code of Conduct, a promise to self regulate that has since been adopted by a handful of retailers and many of the nation’s largest manufacturers, including Nike and L.L. Bean. However, the Department of Defense, which has a $ 1 billion garment business that would make it the country’s 14th largest retail apparel outlet, has not signed the Code of Conduct. In addition, it has not agreed to demand that its contractors submit to periodic inspections.; Because the Department of Defense has not agreed to adhere to the code, the job of stopping public sector sweatshops falls to the Department of Labor. Federal contractors that persist in violating wage laws or safety and health codes can lose their lucrative taxpayer financed contracts. But...
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